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A few days ago Facebook announced (via Mashable)it would allow, via a native application, users to decide if they wanted the updates they posted to Facebook also exported and published to their Twitter profiles.

(8/31 Edit: Shanee pointed out this is only for Fan Pages and not personal profiles at this point. –CT)

That’s kind of a big deal for a number of reasons, including the fact that Facebook has seemingly been in a race to add as many Twitter-like features as they could in an effort to become people’s status network home of choice.

But this decision says to me that they see more value in becoming a Twitter publishing platform – something along the lines of Ping.fm or an application like TweetDeck – than in trying to compete outright. By adding this feature they can make the case for people to stay on Facebook all day (those eyeballs translate to advertising revenue, something FB desperately needs) and publish to Twitter what they choose without ever leaving. It’s kind of brilliant and a much smarter strategy, I think, than trying to compete outright.

About the AuthorChris Thilk works on the Client Services team, part of Voce Connect, developing and executing social media strategy. You can follow him at @christhilk on Twitter.